Pouches

With First Tactical already offering several bag and pack options it is natural they also have some nice pouches to go with them and great to see they put as much thought into them as their other products. Since doing an article on each pouch perhaps would be overkill I thought best to give a good group presentation on ones I've been able to get my hands on so far.

I recently had the luck to meet ILE - Inside Line Equipment and was happy to see other good local gear folks working on cool things. Although specializing in hard use bicycle pack and bag designs, this MOLLE Organizer is a great example of civilian and military ideas coming together to combine pros from both worlds.

Simple large capacity modular pouches are still a bit on the rare side these days so it was refreshing to see a whole line from Dunamis Gear. Although a small company, one can tell a lot of care goes into these pouches with attention to detail and use of quality materials. They take the end result quality very seriously by guaranteeing Duramis Gear products for life.

It appears Maxpedition's Pocket Organizer line has been going well with demand for even larger versions resulting in the semi new Beefy variant. I actually already showed the Fatty version in an earlier article, however since so similar it is appropriate to show again for a size comparison. Being on the bigger side, these pouches either require a good sized cargo pocket or can make handy organizers to be used in larger bags. The Fatty is approx 5" x 7" x 2" filling up most cargo pockets and the general concept of the Beefy is an up-size to approx 6.25" x 8.75" x 2.5". At this size a full ACU style billowed cargo pocket is required which even then makes for a tight fit to close the flap.

Some more velcro insert goodies for you tac bag folks out there; Maxpedition has expanded the hook back pouch line with the 5" x 7" and 3" x 5" Zipper Pockets. The layout is overall simple using a double zipper opening. The interior has a sleeve pocket on one side and elastic divided into 2 channels on the other.

Maxpedition has had their EDC Pocket Organizer around for some time and apparently customers of all kinds of pant types have been asking for new size variants. The original EDC size was made to fit comfortably in a cargo pocket and now the Fatty size makes full use of the cargo space; Mini fits better in side hand pockets, and Micro is even smaller to fit in the majority of pant pockets.

I've had the Emdom M4 specific CQB pouches for a bit and despite being a tighter double fit than I'd like, I overall dig the core design. When some AK class opportunities came my way I was reminded I didn't have jack in the form of AK pouches so naturally decided to give the Emdom AK CQB pouch a try. I'm a fan of velcro flaps as they offer good error tolerance in stressful situations being overall easy to rip open and can half ass a closure yet still be decently secure.

Maxpedition has some recent additions to their hook and loop based inserts. With all the cool guy bags using loop these days, always good to see more inserts to give more holding and organization flexibility.

Double Pocket Insert: 4.5" x 6.5" x 2"A nice compact organizer great for holding small electronics, compact toiletries, or even can fill up with some first aid basics. It sports 2 exterior pockets with velcro closure using a nice soft interior material making these area great for phones and compact cameras. The main compartment opens with a double zippers to a near clam-shell style, but not all the way to keep goods from flopping all the way out. Inside there is a simple sleeve pocket on one side with elastic divided into 2 slots and even a key keeper.

Coming in at around 6" x 2.5" this design is like the other Maxpedition E series, but in a size optimized for folding knives. Exclusively made for knifeart.com, the main design intent is to hold collector knives or any you might just want to keep nice and protected. The exterior is made of the heavy duty 1000D material Maxpedition is known for, however the inside is lined with gentle fleece. The main flap uses a velcro connection with pull tab to increase ease. The majority of folding knives will easily fit inside and bulk purchasing is even available to make these cases further affordable. It shouldn't be an issue for most, but if you are especially concerned about keeping an item in pristine condition, one should take care not to brush up against the hook velcro when placing items in and out. A simple and effective design.

So there are a LOT of mag pouches out there these days, but I thought these were worth showing for something different. The concept is somewhat like a FastMag using soft materials. The sides are made of elastic to keep pressure on the magazine while the insides have a generous amount of non-slip material. The end result is a pretty nice grip.

Toy Soldier Workshop brings us another unique pouch. The size and the mounting options turn this pouch into a specialty GP pouch. A good assortment of random small and medium things will fit inside, but one example could be to use it as a small medical pouch. The size is approx 8"L x 4.5"H x 2.5"D of course varying on how much you stuff in there. Construction on this one was overall solid with the main material being 1000D cordura.

Maxpedition and other tactical gear makers have been making bags with loop velcro panels for a while so finally we have some more options on how to make good use of them. Since the intent is that these panels will generally be in the interior of bags the retention security is low in favor of easier accessibility. Some quick breakdowns:

Maxpedition Jumbo KISSTuesday, 01 March 2011 Maxpedition has had great success with the Jumbo series and thus continued to offer new variants to cater to more specific users. This semi new (heh... Read More...